SO...we spent 7 days in two villages. I swear it felt like 2 weeks. We took our first trip to Yalle. What an INCREDIBLE, giving, loving, helpful, trustworthy, beautiful, celebratory, happy people. They took us in on the first day, stared a bit, but then let us do our thing. We set up camp and the next morning began work on some desks. Walker, Chey, Sara, and I built 22 desks, while the Bens found the church needing some pews. What an exciting project! They built quite a bunch, AND turns out the 3 room school uses the church during the week, so the boys slapped some desktops on the backs of the pews. BAM.

We finished a day of crazy tired work and went home to make some spaghetti, gari, or Ramen (I can't remember, the days sort of blur together food-wise...but that is a summary of our 7 days). It always seemed like someone was around to dine on our leftovers-convenient Jesus.

We always went to sleep early so we didn't waste our head lamps, usually after playing some cards. The next day we worked all morning, sanding and building more pews until the storm came. You could see the black skies from FAR away and when it came...it came like MAD. It felt like one of those waterpark buckets in the kids section spilling over. Unluckily we had a thin TENT with all of our important stuff in it (not a mud hut like the rest of the community). LUCKILY, that tent had a rain fly and our boys know how to set it up WELL.

With dry stuff and not much work done we had dinner and sleep. The next day was Sunday. We were able to attend the ONLY church in this village of 1000 people. About 20 adults attended about about 30 kids. They had some music that some of us remembered from our time in Ghana, it was nice to feel that comfort. One of our Bens gave a sermon that was translated. He finished with, why do we waste our hours in church, when there is a community that needs help sowing their fields after the rain. As a church let's go out and help our brothers. Three groups split themselves up and helped to sow their neighbors' fields. What a great example of the love our Jesus is looking for...even on the duh duh dummm SABBATH!? While they did that, we finished the pews and headed back to our temporary home that we did not want to leave the next day. We spent the next morning packing up, giving out some school supplies to the teachers and students, enjoying the BEST goodbye party I've ever attended-dancing, singing and billions of laughs/pictures, cooking some yummy guinea fowl scrambled eggs, and playing cards while we waited for our friend and his tro-tro to pick us up and take us to the new village. After a crazy ride, and a visit to his farm, Godwin dropped us in Nungu with our shower bucket full-up of well water.

We scoped out the town, set up camp, and Ben S. got Malaria, he headed back to Bolga by a teacher and his moto and is now healthy as a horse. The rest of us woke up the next morning at 6:30am ready for two hard core days of work. We spent day one sanding the crap out of the three classrooms, scraping off 16 years of build up (I wish not to describe the things that fell into my hair, eyes, and MOUTH-but bats and dirt dobbers were involved). By lunch, all walls were sanded and ready to be painted. We spent the afternoon painting one entire classroom yellow, until dark. We were even more efficient on day two. Starting at 7, we painted the other two classrooms before lunch. Now here is where I wish we had pictures available to you. We used blue and green to paint each classroom a set of the alphabet, a set of numbers 1-20, and an entire back wall with either a painted world with a verse, or an Africa with a verse. They look gorgeous, and hopefully I'll be able to post pictures soon. We finished JUST before dark when a friend of ours from Yalle spent money to take a moto ride to visit us because he missed us! :)

Our last night we had enough spaghetti for our 6 friends that were hanging out to join and it was a happy affair. A couple of us were even married off with the promise of a few cows. We were blessed with Sara's talent for making popcorn, enjoyed each others' company, and fell asleep knowing that this was the last night for a while that we would have to poop in the woods. We all kinda smelled bad too.

A few students and teachers and community members made their way through the school and expressed their gratitude as it had not been painted since the school had been built in 1995. We kept hearing the word beautiful and we kept thinking the same of their community. Woo! Godwin picked us up and took us straight to the Talensi-Nabdam district headquarters. The director and executive director took our details, thanked us for helping with their school, and promised to help out with our project next year. We then finally made it back to Bolga. Walker, Ben, and Cheyenne took off to see some friends they knew in the area, Sara and I spent 3 hours laying on the floor with the kids at Mama Laadi's, singing and making forts with mattresses.

The next morning after plenty tears, we said goodbye with the promise of coming back-God willing-next year. It's been two days and I miss them already.

And yes, I DID go to the mall yesterday and see Harry Potter. Is anyone else sad that it's over!?!?

One week left. I still have some Accra-friend catching up to do, and of course, feasting on my favorite foods, but then I get to see my family, yay!

Love and miss!!!!!!

BACK IN BOLGA PEEPS!

Hey everyone!!!

Just a quick run-through of what's been going on!

Two of my teammates and I arrived here in Accra on the 24th of June: Sara (friend from Ghana/Grand Rapids) and Walker (just graduated high school-never been to Ghana) and I.

Ben M. (friend from Ghana/Mississippi) and his NEW FIANCE, Cheyenne (never been to Ghana/from Arkansas), picked us up at the airport. The two of them have now been here in Ghana for about a month, working and traveling with another teammate Ben S. (friend from Ghana/Mississippi). The two Bens have headed up a brand new organization called The Desk Project. Please visit the website to learn more:

thedeskproject.org

All of us have come together this summer to build desks, spend time with and to encourage the students and teachers, and to spread some love of Jesus where it might not have already been spread.

So, we arrived in Accra in the middle of Friday the 24th of June. We spent the day eating our favorite-missed foods from Ghana. Hanging out with friends we saw around town and chillin' at our favorite orphanage with children that have grown tons of inches and pounds since we've last seen them! It was wonderful few hours full of hugs and play time. :)

We did some reorganizing of bags and left the next morning on our 17 hour bus trip up to a place called Bolgatanga (http://www.michaelchuck.com/images/WP-MAP-Bolgatanga-HiLited-690w_850h.jpg). To give you some perspective, Ghana is only about the size of Oregon, but somehow it takes 17 hours to get from Accra to Bolga. Go figure...

We arrived in the early a.m. and did some sleeping. We spent the next two or three days reacquainting ourselves with the area and its people. We met some new and old friends, and fell back in love with Mama Laadi and her children. If you remember from my time here before, Mama Laadi is the owner/manager of the Mama Laadi children's home here in Bolgatanga. She is in charge of 60-some children, who are either out at a school, or under her direct care at the home. There might be 30 children staying there with her now. She is sponsored by individual families and friends, as well as an organization called Afrikids. Help comes from everywhere.

If you have any desire to donate money to Mama Laadi and her cause, please e-mail me at megbauhof@gmail.com and I can hook you up proper. Your donations would help with shots, day-to-day supplies, school fees, clothes, government papers and so much more.

After those few days, we packed up, loaded up supplies, picked up a truck, and headed outside of town to a few small villages. We started in Buugu. After spending an hour or so in the classrooms, trying to occupy the three of the five classes that were not staffed by the 2 teachers they have for this one school, we built 25 desks. Luckily, we finished before dark, and set up camp. The chief came by during the day and gave us a chicken. So while some of us were setting up dinner/settling in, Ben M. was breaking the neck/plucking the feathers/cleaning/cutting up our new friend the chicken. He was a little tough with our hard black eyed peas, but we were satisfied and of course had some granola bars on the side.

The next day we loaded up with water (have I not mentioned that the water holes are usually a big-fat-walk away from our camp?), and took off for the next village, Bingo (somehow pronounced "boing"). We built 5 desks at the next spot. We spent a bit of time in conversation with the students because no teachers had shown up for that day of work (5 classes-no teachers-are you seeing a pattern).

Because the night before was filled with scary noises, goats, and plenty children to distract us from our four hours of sleep, we took this opportunity between villages to nap. We spent about an hour under a tree with the breeze and oh how glorious is Jesus to give us those blessings. We walked to a river that we couldn't go in, but it looked real cool. The walk took about an hour and gave us a bit of a burn, but we've all got some sweet chaco-sandal tans on our feet now. MAYBE a little melanoma on the side...no big deal :-P

At the next village, Nungu, we were able to build 45 desks. 20 the first night until dark. We had some impatient rice and beans (both were a little crunchy-but both were FABULOUS), with Koolaid in our water, and dark m & m's we've been saving as dessert-DUH-LISH. 25 desks the next morning, bright and early, after a much better night of sleep (no school that Friday-holiday in Ghana, so a million students weren't surrounding and staring in our tent to wake us up at 4:30 a.m. like the last night). We sang songs, told stories, and worked hard to finish our goal. We happily headed back to Bolgatanga with hopes of a shower and a mattress. Our dreams came true!

We are now at the end of a weekend and will leave in the morning for another week spent in two different villages. In one we will be building about 20 more desks. In the other, we will be painting bright pictures on the bare walls with some English words to help further the English learning they have been doing in class. Hooray! In both villages, we have come across a single believer in each. These are the people we will hope to focus a bit of our extra attention. We are hoping to help with some encouragement and favorite scriptures, and maybe a few teaching techniques that will help to share with friends the stories that we have known since childhood. The stories we take for granted. We have all heard the story of Jesus walking on water and the feeding of the 5000. Is it astonishing that some have not yet had the privilege? How about that one where our savior dies in a miserable way, and then rises from the dead to save us all. Doesn't it suck that some haven't heard?? Doesn't it also suck that we can't tell them because we don't speak their language. We are standing right in front of them and can just smile, stick out our tongues with silly faces, and show them their photo to make them laugh. We will hope to continue bringing laughter, but our hope is to also, help these two followers to use their own languages and new found passion to share with their brothers and sisters the truth that we take for granted. Pray that we find reliable translators.

We are lovin' each other and already have a quote page that is filling up with things that have caused explosive laughter. Please if you are willing, continue in prayer for us. We would love great health, as we are a bit of a distance from clinics and hospitals. Pray for courage as we share our faith. Pray for our truck's health as mechanics are few and far between. Pray for our rest and our cooking-none of us are real awesome at it. Annndd of course anything else you would like to add to the list. :)

We all miss our families. So families, if you're reading, we all send big hugs. Thank you for your love and your belief in us, that we were able to come here. Thank you especially to all of you that donated and prayed our way here. We and our new Ghanaian friends are all so grateful for your contributions. Love you all and can't wait for the hugs when we return.

(sorry no pics...in-ta-net is toooo sloowwwww)

Back in the States!?...?!

Julie Andrews says the best place to start is at the very beginning. If I did that, we’d be here a long time. While I know that my tendency IS to create long blog entries on ACCIDENT, I will not be doing that on PURPOSE this time. However, I can’t make any promises that this will be short and sweet. I’m going to start from the middle of the summer to catch you all up on some things, so that I can explain what’s next!

I came home from the trip of my dreams (watching the World Cup IN Africa WITH my best friend -what could be better???) at the end of June 2010. With TONS of disorientation (culturally and physically-not much sleep) I started a job the day after I landed in Michigan. I spent the next 8 weeks working at this incredible day camp for kids with Autism. The transition from Ghana to Detroit was much harder than expected. All of us teachers over there, knew that obviously the culture change was going to be difficult. I always seem to underestimate things like that. I am generally a happy person, but apparently I spent some time not-so-happy...and some more time crying and embarrassing myself in front of the constant flow of visitors that always seemed to show up at my house at just the right time. Sorry to those of you that experienced that Megan. I can promise you, it was not because I was unhappy to be home, because nothing makes me happier than 24/7 with my family, long-missed friends, and soccer with my Toby. It was more of a sort of feeling mis-understood or of a mis-belonging. I had spent three years in a place that I had finally come to understand. I knew how the water, the electricity, and even how the expectations and minds of the people, functioned. I became used to the way of life, the timing of everything, the way people interact with strangers, the food culture, the religious state of those around me, and the beat and rhythm that can only be found in that place. Certain things only happen in Ghana. Certain activities are only common in Ghana. Certain stories are only relevant in Ghana. After three years, those things, activities, and stories became a part of me. I spent just a couple months within those three years visiting back in Detroit for one reason or another, racing through days, seeing as many people as possible, gorging on food I couldn’t get, and packing to go back. Within those few days at home I never had the time to think about discomfort. When people didn’t understand, I just banked that story to tell my friends when I got back to Ghana.

So, when I realized I couldn’t just bank the stories anymore to use during hang outs in East Legon or dinners at Chez Afrique, and I realized that there are about 12 people who have experienced what I’ve experienced at AIS in Accra...and for some reason, they are spread all throughout this fine country of ours, I started to get sad. Lucky for us, we live in a time where the phone and internet or so easily accessible, which means hang outs are almost possible (can you GET ear cancer from talking on the phone too much???). As with the rest of my former colleagues, we were experiencing glazed faces when telling stories, and quizzical looks after explaining common occurrences from our Ghanaian home. We all became counselors to each other. Needing constant reminders that just like anything, it’s hard for anyone to understand a story, when they weren’t there. The “I guess you had to be there” phrase was never more useful. It took a while to understand, that just like three years ago, I had to mesh into a totally different culture. Just like when I entered Ghana, it was going to take some changing in myself, to fit in again. Fitting in obviously isn’t my goal, I don’t do a very good job at it anyway, but feeling comfortable in this culture, took some time, and lots of prayer.

Not only did it take those things, but it also took the patience of those around me. I just wanted to thank those of you, that constantly overlooked and continue to overlook my weirdness, or over-emotionality (sorry if that’s not a word, but I fear it applies here). I still have times where I feel I don’t fit in, but there are so many groups of people that with their excitement to see me and inclusion in activities help to bypass those feelings. Thank you to my family who constantly disregard my “specialness” and my friends near and far that listen with interest to any and everything I want to say. I know my stories get long...REALLY long. So thank you. All of you are awesome and make me feel fantastic.

Moving on and speaking of friends that listen, Mrs. Jamie Boyse, who somehow constantly finds time to listen to my endless stories, has also somehow found job opportunities for me since the summer. That job I mentioned for eight weeks at the day camp was maneuvered into my life by this lady. Then, when I took my time, being unemployed and spending time with family, so that I could decide what God wanted of me and where God wanted me, Jamie called and told me to send her my resume. I am now her co-worker at a charter school in Taylor as a paraprofessional-which kind of makes me want to buy a t-shirt that explains this position, because not many people know it...but I’m sort of like a teacher’s assistant. I pull 5th grade kids into the hallway and give mini-lessons on things they might have missed in previous grades and hope and pray that’s the connection that will help them in their current level.

At this new school, I have fallen in love with the administration, staff, and students. With different technologies, some things are easier than in Ghana, but with a greater amount of students and family issues that might come along with these students, some things are harder than in Ghana. Either way, I know I’m in the right place. God has given me a peace and happiness with this opportunity, which brings me to next year. All this trying-to-fit-in junk brought some uncertainty to staying. Discernment is a sport I feel like I have to practice constantly but still have not mastered. How do you know God wants you some where? When do you know God wants you in this place? I’m currently reading a book that tells me that the farthest thing from your human-desire, is usually what God wants from you. How do I know what I LEAST want to do!? I probably least want to run through the streets naked, but I don’t think that should be my life choice. I recently signed a letter of intent to come back next year to this elementary school in Taylor, MI with the high hopes of a head teaching position. It scares me because I’ve seen the amount of work it is going to be. Things won’t be the same as they were in Ghana, but I know I’ve been given skills, friendships, and a year to prepare and watch, which will all help me dearly. If God decides to all of a sudden lead me in a different way, then so be it, I’ll follow, but for now it seems I’ll be another year in Taylor, and I’m kinda pumped about it! :)

Yes, yes, looks like another novel was published by Miss Megan Bauhof. My apologies...however, I have one last thing to mention. THE DESK PROJECT!!!! I’ve brought it up in church, and within a few circles of friends, but haven’t officially introduced this year’s trip to Ghana! So my next blog entry will be describing what will happen this summer, stay tuned, and keep in mind something that’s been on my heart lately...that a reliance on God is what gets us through. Quit trying to use the “I CAN DO IT” mentality that we all know and love. Moms love that feeling when a kid comes crying to them needing a hug, don’t they? Don’t dads dig it when they provide for their family? Aren’t teachers in Heaven when they see a child master a topic because of the little nugget of knowledge he or she provided?? I bet God’s like that. Don’t forget to rely on Him because I bet he gets His kicks when His kids realize His power.

Love you guys....thanks for listening.

ENJOY FEBRUARY CUZ IT’S ALMOST OVER!!! YIKES!

Meg

p.s. snow is cold.